Livermore rodeo kicks off 94th edition

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One of the chili samples is given out during the Livermore Chili Shooters Stampede and Western Heritage Celebration held in downtown Livermore, Calif., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The event also had beer tasting from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Livermore's newest Craft Brewers, Altamont Beer Works. The event is part of the kickoff for the Livermore Rodeo held on June 9th and 10th. (Doug Duran/Staff)

Bed Hargrave, of Concord, holds on as she rides a mechanical bull during the Livermore Chili Shooters Stampede and Western Heritage Celebration held in downtown Livermore, Calif., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The event also had beer tasting from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Livermore's newest Craft Brewers, Altamont Beer Works. The event is part of the kickoff for the Livermore Rodeo held on June 9th and 10th. (Doug Duran/Staff)

Adrianna Ivey, of Oakland, holds on as she rides a mechanical bull during the Livermore Chili Shooters Stampede and Western Heritage Celebration held in downtown Livermore, Calif., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The event also had beer tasting from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Livermore's newest Craft Brewers, Altamont Beer Works. The event is part of the kickoff for the Livermore Rodeo held on June 9th and 10th. (Doug Duran/Staff)

Navreena Sahota, with First Street Alehouse, stirs some chili made with lollipops before giving out samples during the Livermore Chili Shooters Stampede and Western Heritage Celebration held in downtown Livermore, Calif., on Saturday, June 2, 2012. The event also had beer tasting from the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company and Livermore's newest Craft Brewers, Altamont Beer Works. The event is part of the kickoff for the Livermore Rodeo held on June 9th and 10th. (Doug Duran/Staff)

LIVERMORE — A year after posting some of its best attendance numbers, the Livermore rodeo is returning to its roots and becoming a full-fledged family affair.

Volunteers planning the 94th annual Livermore Rodeo decided to reopen the rodeo’s kickoff event, the Cattle Penning Mixer, to children after a 16-year hiatus.

“This year, we are trying to bring it back to the family and see if it works,” Stan Kueffer, president of the Livermore Stockmen’s Rodeo Association, which has put on the event since 1918, said about the mixer. “It used to be that way and was more like a city social hour.”

Kueffer, who has been with the stockmen’s association for 19 years, said when the mixer was child-friendly, it once sold 2,400 tickets within four hours, but said that he and other organizers in the mid-1990s changed the mixer to adults only because hard liquor is served.

The mixer begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Livermore Rodeo Grounds Barn and includes a tri-tip dinner and cattle penning. Tickets to the mixer are $20 for adults, $10 for ages 5-13 and free for kids 4 and under. The mixer is the first of three days of pre-rodeo festivities, including Family Night on Thursday,

There will be professional riders in early competition Friday. The big week culminates Saturday and Sunday with the parade and rodeo.

The parade starts at 10 a.m. Saturday in downtown Livermore and features former police Chief Ron Scott as grand marshal and former City Manager Linda Barton as the community service award recipient.

The rodeo, dubbed the world’s fastest, begins at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Gates open at 11 a.m. each day. Rodeo tickets are $12-$20.

Last year’s rodeo drew from 11,000 to 2,000 people per day for the two-day competition, marking some of the best attendance numbers in years, said Kueffer.

“We have always had a strong following in the Bay Area,” said Justin Shaw, media coordinator for the Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association, which sanctions the Livermore rodeo as one of its 572 rodeos per year.

“Whenever we had stuff in San Francisco, it has been a great success, so Livermore drawing that many fans per day is good for one that is not a tour rodeo.”

Tour rodeo or not, both fans and first-timers have flocked to the rodeo and events since its inception 94 years ago.

“No one is paid, and we are all volunteers,” said Kueffer. “We have a couple hundred volunteers that are dedicated and tried hard to keep prices down and keep it a family event.”

Wednesday: Cattle penning and mixer starts at 5:30 p.m. in the arena barn. It includes a tri-tip dinner. Kids are welcome. Tickets cost $10-$20.

Thursday: Family Night begins at 6 with local team roping and wild cow milking. Admission, hot dogs and drinks are each $1.

Friday: The professional slack competition starts at the arena at 8 a.m. and is free.

Saturday: The rodeo parade begins at 10 a.m. in downtown Livermore. Former police Chief Ron Scott is grand marshal. The rodeo begins with the grand entry at 3 p.m. Gates open at 11 a.m. Tickets are $12-$20; parking is $10.